Cosmetic stick holder

ABSTRACT

A lipstick holder is provided which comprises means for positioning the stick of lipstick at a predetermined height above the receptacle for the lipstick whenever the cover is fully removed. The disclosed positioning means includes a support assembly which supports the stick of lipstick at one end, a pair of spring arms attached to the support assembly, slots in the lipstick receptacle through which the spring arms protrude into contact with the cover when the cover is disposed over the lipstick receptacle, and a positioning member disposed in the cover and positioned to be engaged by the top of the stick of lipstick when it has reached its desired position relative to the receptacle. The engagement of the top of the stick of lipstick with the positioning member results in release of the spring arms from the cover.

United States Patent 1191' Greenwood 1451 Jan. 2, 1973 s41 COSMETICSTICK HOLDER 57 ABSTRACT [76] Inventor: 1 1 Greenwood, 7 WOOdShOIe Alipstick holder is provided which comprises means East, CliffwooclBeach, NJ. 07735 for positioning the stick of lipstick at apredetermined I height above the receptacle for the lipstick whenever 711 filed 19 the cover 1s fully removed. The dlsclosed pos1t1on1ng PP N051 1 means includes a support assembly which supports the stick oflipstick at one end, a pair of spring arms at- 521 U.S. c1 ..40l/60teehed to the support assembly, slots in the lipstick 51 Int. Cl. ..A45d39/04 receptacle through which the spring time protrude [58] Field ofSearch ..4o1/ss, 59, 60-62, into contact with the cover when the coveris disposed 401/80 32.84, 88, 98 over the lipstick receptacle, and apositioning member disposed in the cover and positioned to be engaged by[56] References Cited the top of the stick of lipstick when it hasreached its desired position relative to the receptacle. The en- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS gagement of the top of the stick of lipstick with the1,734,117 11/1929 Coryell ..40l/60 Positioning member results in releaseof the Spring 1,794,385 3/1931 McAtree ...40l/60 arms from the cover.2,088,899 8/1937- Chevrean ...40l/62 2,609,093 9/1952 Lynn ..40l/82 5Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Primary Examiner--Lawrence CharlesAttorney-Lemer, David & Littenberg 6 v L j 2 i m A; ,60 24 28 26 E 2O\$I2 I J 4 30 4 72 g 1 32 sl g; 46

PATENTED A 2 I975 INVENTOR.

JAMES GREENWOOD LERNER, DAVID 8 LITTENBERG A TTORNEYS COSMETIC s'rrcxHOLDER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to holdersfor sticks of wearable material, and particularly to holders for sticksof wearable cosmetic material, such as sticks of eye shadow andlipstick.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION places the cosmetic material, such aslipstick, in a desired operating position. In this regard, it is wellknown to provide holders which have covers that position the cosmeticsticks in desired closed positions when the covers are moved to theirfully closed positions and that position the cosmetic sticks in fullyexposed positions when the covers are moved to their fully openedpositions. Examples of such prior art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,734,116;1,794,385; 1,976,252 and 2,609,093.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a holder for a stickof wearable material which functions to position the end of the stick ofwearable material at a desired exposed position whenever the cover isfully removed. The aforesaid desired exposed position is independent ofthe length of the stick of wearable material except when such length isnot sufficient for the end of the stick to reach such desired exposedposition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention particularly resides inthe provision of a holder for a stick of wearable material which holdercomprises positioning means for positioning the operable end of thestick at a desired position above the receptacle for the stick wheneverthe receptacle cover is fully removed. The positioning means generallycomprises means cooperating with the cover to move the stick with thecover as it is opened and means responsive to the movement of the stickto its desired position to prevent further movement of the stick.

The preferred embodiment of the invention, which is described in detailhereinafter, generally comprises a support assembly for the stick whichincludes a spring member adapted to frictionally engage the cover. Apositioning member is disposed in the path of the stick so that the endof the stick strikes the positioning member when it has reached itsdesired exposed position relative to the receptacle for the stick. Uponsuch engagement, the spring member is released from the cover andfunctions to hold the stick in its desired exposed position during use.Final removal of the cover results in removal of the positioning memberfrom engagementwith the stick.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of alipstick holder without the cover which has been constructed inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a different side elevational view of the lipstick holder ofFIG. 1 with the cover removed;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present inventionis capable o'f wide application in that it generally relates to animproved holder for a stick of wearable material, particularly cosmeticmaterial, such as eye shadow and lipstick. However, for the purpose offully explaining the invention, the present description is directed to apreferred embodiment of the invention which is embodied in a lipstick Iholder. It is to be understood that this description is intended to bebyway of example only and not as a limitation to the scope of theinvention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4 of the drawings, there is shown alipstick holder in accordancewith the preferredv embodiment of theinvention which generally comprises a stick 10 of lipstick; a sticksupport-assembly 12 upon which the stick 10 is mounted at one end, areceptacle 14 which movably receives the stick 10 and stick supportassembly 12, and a cover 16 adapted to matingly cooperate withreceptacle 14 to seal the open end 18 of receptacle 14 when the cover 16is in its fully closed position shownin FIG. 3.

The aforesaid general features are of course well known. The presentinvention generally resides in the provision of means for automaticallypositioning the end 19 of the stick 10 at a predetermined positionrelastick 10. Spring member 20 is welded by weld 28 to support platfonn24. Spring member 20 comprises spring arms 30 and 32 and is soconstructed that, in. its normal position, spring arms 30 and 32 extendoutwardly through slots 34 and 36 in a'wall 37 of receptacle 14. Thisposition of spring arms 30 and 32 is shown in FIG. 2. The edges of thearms 30 and 32 are sawtoothed to provide a positive means for grippingthem if one desiresto move stick 10 manually as will be more fullyexplained hereinafter. However, this is usually only done when the stick10 has beenwom down so much that its end 19 does not protrudesufficiently out of the open end 18 of receptacle l4 forapplyinglipmember 38'and base member 40 could be formed from a single piece ofmaterial and thus be entirely integral. It is to be further noted thatthough base member 40 within base member40. Spring arms 30 and 32 are ofsuch a width relative to slots '34 and 36 that they may readily extendthrough the slots. In fact, a portion of each of the spring arms isalways disposed within the slots which thereby guide movement of thespring arms and thus movement of stick 10.

Spring member 20 includes a relatively wide top portion 50 which issubstantially planar when the cover 16 is removed and the spring arms 30and 32 protrude outside of slots 34 and 36. At such times, curved edges52 and 54 of top portion 50 engage wall 37 to frictionally hold stick ina relatively fixed position relative to elongated cylinder 38. Thisposition is relatively fixed in that stick [0 will only move when thefrictional forces developed by the'spring edges 52 and 54 in en-Cylindrical member 60 is fixedly connected to an end member 62. It willbe appreciated that endmember 62 and cylindrical member 60 could beformed from the same piece of material and thus be integral.Furthermore, the end member 62 could be flush with the end ofcylindrical member 60 rather than extending beyond and around the end ofcylindrical member 60 as in the presently illustrated and preferredembodiment.

A cap-shaped positioning member 64 is slidably disposed withincylindrical member 60. Positioning member 64 comprises a cylindricallyshaped body portion 65 which terminates in an end or cap portion 66.Positioning member 64 is confined within cylindrical member'60 by athickened portion 68 of cylindrical member 60 which prevents positioningmember 64 from coming out of cylindrical member 60.

It willbe appreciated that positioning member 64 has outside dimensionssuch that it can freely slide within cover 16 while substantiallymaintaining a predetermined orientation relative to cylindricalmember60. Positioning member 64 can be inserted into cylindrical member 60 by'putting it in its desired position before connecting end member 62 tocylindrical member 60.

If cover 16 is made from a single piece of material, other well knownmeans such as, for example, initially contracting and then expandingpositioning member 64 may be employed. Such methods of insertion woulddepend upon the materials from which positioning member 64 and cover 16are constructed;

The portion 66 of elongated member 38 of receptacle 14 disposed adjacentthe open end 18 is beveled so that the body portion 65 of positioningmember 64 readily passes around and over cylindrical ;member 38 in FIG.3. 1 it The presently preferred embodiment of the invention has allmetal parts. However, other materials, such as plastic materials, couldof course be used.

4 OPERATION When one purchases a lipstick constructed in accordance withthe teachings of the presentinvention, the cover 16 is in the closedpositionshbwnin FIG. 3.

To use the lipstick, cover 16 must be fully removed: As 1 the cover 16is pulled off of receptacle 14,? stick 10 moves substantially at thesame rate and in the same that the curved edges 52 and 54 engage theinner wall of cylindrical member 38 to hold stick 10 in a relativelyfixed position relative to member 38.

Continued opening movement of cover 16 results in engagement ofthickened portion 68 with positioning member 64 which forces positioningmember 64 off of cylindrical member 38. The lipstick without the'cover16 is now in the condition illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In fact, the position of end 19 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 5 will alwaysbeassumed until stick 10 has been worn down so much that the thickenedportion 68 of cylindrical member engages positioning member prior to theengagement of positioning member 64 with'len'd 19 of stick 10. At suchtimes, stick 10 may not be exposed sufficiently to be easily used. Itcan be more fully exposed by pressing the spring arms 30 and 32 manuallyinwards of slots 34 and 36 to release the .frictional engagement ofcurved edges 52.and 54 and,

while holding the arm members in such compressed condition, moving themtoward the open end 18. In fact, if desired, the lipstick can be held inposition when being applied by holding the lipstick in such a mannerthat the users fingers grip the saw-toothed edges of spring arms 30 and32.

After the lipstick has been'used, cover"16 is positioned in telescopingrelationship to cylindrical member 38. As itis moved towards its fullyclosed position, the end 72 of cylindrical member 60 engages spring arms30 and 32 forcing the spring arms toward base member 40. This causes thestick 10 to move towards its closed position shown in FIG. 3. When cover16 reaches its almost fully closed position, two things happen. Thefirst is that the springarms 30 and 32 engage base portion 40 so thatthey can moveno further and the enlarged portion 68 then moves overthickened portion 68. The second thing to occur is that positioningmember 64 moves over the beveledportion 1 67 of cylindrical member 38.When the cover member when the cover 16 is in its fullyclosedfposi'tionshown 1 is then moved to its fully closed position,positioning member 64 is forced into relatively tight engagementwithcylindrical member 38. i

The relationship between the forces created by enmember 20 andpositioning member 64 can be determined by trial and error. Therequirements are such that the spring member 20 engage the cover 16 withsufficient force to follow movement of the cover. This force has provento be quite small because the entire stick support assembly 12 and stickare relatively light. This force must, in addition, be such that stickl0 will not be moved when in normal use which is when the curved edges52 and 54 are in engagement with cylindrical member 38.

The forces developed due to the engagement of positioning member 64 withcylindrical member 38 must be such that the engagement of the end 19 ofstick 10 with positioning member 64 results in release of spring member20 from cover 16. It will be appreciated that only this amount of forceis applied to the end 19 since once the spring member 20 has beendisengaged, there is no force tending to move stick 10 into engagementwith the positioning member. Thus, this force has not proven to besubstantial and will not adversely affect the shape of stick 10 if itcomprises material of a relatively firm consistency. If the lipstickisof a relatively poor consistency, positioning member 64 may beprovided with an interior shape which will result in shaping stick l0whenever it engages the positioning member. Such a specially shapedpositioning member is shown in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of a positioning member 80is shown in cross-section. Positioning member 80 is cylindrically shapedand has an inner curved surface 82 adapted to shape the end of a stickof wearable material when brought into engagement with such end.Positioning member 80 further comprises a flange-like portion 84 adaptedto mate with and frictionally engage the top of cylindrical member 38. Astep portion 86 connects the curved surface 82 to flange-like portion84.

The inner surface of cylindrical member 38 may be provided withserrations adapted to engage the spring arms which bend top portion 50to aid in preventing the lipstick from being pushed back into thechamber of member 38 during use of the holder.

While the principles of the invention have been described in connectionwith specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that thedescription is made only by way of example and is not intended as alimitation to the scope of the invention as set forth in theaccompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A holder wherein said cooperating means comprises a spring memberattached to said support means and at least one longitudinal slot insaid receptacle, a portion of said spring member being positioned withinsaid slot and adapted to extend therethrough into engagement with saidcover so that said support means moves with said cover until theengagement of said spring member with said cover is released, supportmeans for mounting of one end of a stick of wearable material thereon,receptacle means including a receptacle having an opening thereto andmeans movably mounting said support means within said receptacle formovement between a closed position in which a stick supported thereon byits said one end is substantially disposed within said receptacle and anopen position in which the other end of the stick rotrudes through saidopening and outside of said rece tacle, a cover a apted said supportmeans to said stick towards said opeii position as said cover is removedfrom said receptacle, cooperating means operatively associated with saidsupport means and adapted to slide in said cover to inhibit said supportmeans from moving said other end of said stick beyond a predeterminedamount outside of said receptacle relative to said opening when saidcover is removed, a holder wherein said receptacle comprises anelongated member and said opening thereto comprises an open end thereof,said cover comprises an elongated member open at one end and adapted totelescopingly receive said receptacle, said cooperating means comprisesa positioning member movably mounted within said cover and adapted tomate with and frictionally engage said open end of said receptacle whensaid cover is moved to its closed position, and said cover furthercomprises disengaging means for moving said positioning member out ofengagement with said receptacle when said cover is moved to its openposition. I

2. A'holder according to claim 1, wherein said spring member comprises apair of spring arms disposed in substantially planar relationship, andsaid receptacle comprises a pair of opposed slots through which saidspring arms extend respectively.

3. A holder according to claim 2, wherein said disengaging meanscomprises an annular abutment disposed within said cover and positionedto be engaged by said spring arms when said cover is in its closedposition, and said spring arms are adapted to engage said abutment withsuch force that the support assembly and stick move with said coveruntil said other end of said stick engages said positioning member, andthe positioning member is so constructed that the forces developed bythe engagement of said positioning member with said receptacle open endare such that the engaging force between the spring arms and said coverare overcome when said positioning member is engaged by said other endof said stick whereby said spring arms are released from said cover andsaid stick no longer tends to move with said cover.

4. A holder according to claim 3, wherein said spring member comprisesan engaging portion fixedly attached to said spring arms and adapted tomove into engaging relationship with said receptacle when said springarms move outside of said slots to thereby hold said stick in arelatively fixed position relative to said receptacle and to be flexedby said spring arms to a non-engaging position with respect to saidreceptacle when said spring arms are in contact with said abutment.

5. A holder according to claim 4, wherein said positioning member is soconstructed that the portion thereof engaged by said other end of saidstick tends to cause said other end to assume a desired shape.

* a: e a: a I

1. A holder wherein said cooperating means comprises a spring memberattached to said support means and at least one longitudinal slot insaid receptacle, a portion of said spring member being positioned withinsaid slot and adapted to extend therethrough into engagement with saidcover so that said support means moves with said cover until theengagement of said spring member with said cover is released, supportmeans for mounting of one end of a stick of wearable material thereon,receptacle means including a receptacle having an opening thereto andmeans movably mounting said support means within said receptacle formovement between a closed position in which a stick supported thereon byits said one end is substantially disposed within said receptacle and anopen position in which the other end of the stick protrudes through saidopening and outside of said receptacle, a cover adapted to mate withsaid receptacle to seal said opening holding said support means in itsclosed position for moving said support means to said stick towards saidopen position as said cover is removed from said receptacle, cooperatingmeans operatively associated with said support means and adapted toslide in said cover to inhibit said support means from moving said otherend of said stick beyond a predetermined amount outside of saidreceptacle relative to said opening when said cover is removed, a holderwherein said receptacle comprises an elongated member and said openingthereto comprises an open end thereof, said cover comprises an elongatedmember open at one end and adapted to telescopingly receive saidreceptacle, said cooperating means comprises a positioning membermovably mounted within said cover and adapted to mate with andfrictionally engage said open end of said receptacle when said cover ismoved to its closed position, and said cover further comprisesdisengaging means for moving said positioning member out of engagementwith said receptacle when said cover is moved to its open position.
 2. Aholder according to claim 1, wherein said spring member comprises a pairof spring arms disposed in substantially planar relationship, and saidreceptacle comprises a pair of opposed slots through which said springarms extend respectively.
 3. A holder according to claim 2, wherein saiddisengaging means comprises an annular abutment disposed within saidcover and positioned to be engaged by said spring arms when said coveris in its closed position, and said spring arms are adapted to engagesaid abutment with such force that the support assembly and stick movewith said cover until said other end of said stick engages saidpositioning member, and the positioning member is so constructed thatthe forces developed by the engagement of said positioning member withsaid receptacle open end are such that the engaging force between thespring arms and said cover are overcome when said positioning member isengaged by said other end of said stick whereby said spring arms arereleased from said cover and said stick no longer tends to move withsaid cover.
 4. A holder according to claim 3, wherein said spring membercomprises an engaging Portion fixedly attached to said spring arms andadapted to move into engaging relationship with said receptacle whensaid spring arms move outside of said slots to thereby hold said stickin a relatively fixed position relative to said receptacle and to beflexed by said spring arms to a non-engaging position with respect tosaid receptacle when said spring arms are in contact with said abutment.5. A holder according to claim 4, wherein said positioning member is soconstructed that the portion thereof engaged by said other end of saidstick tends to cause said other end to assume a desired shape.